Don’t Know

What does the prey actually feel
As the pack hunters circle it?
Nothing other than rising fear
And the surge of adrenaline?

Does the nonhuman have a sense
Of more than fearfulness, of doom?
And what is the feeling of doom
Exactly, even for humans?

Probably no more than terror
Triggered like any other fear,
Symphonic hormonal response
To a looming threat, uncertain

Of the end, although certainty,
In the human case, is the threat.
It’s quiet behind the windows.
The day closes in on sunset.